History, Opinions, Imaginings

Military Service in the 1950s

I have often been struck by how many Packers missed time from their NFL careers due to military service during the 1950s. Although an armistice was declared to end the Korean War in July 1953, military conscription continued. In fact, it appears the Packers felt their worst losses after the War ended. After some preliminary research, it appears the Packers led the league in players lost to military service in 1955, 1956 and 1957 with ten, nine and six players respectively.

The rebuilding Packers did not have the depth to withstand such losses, and Coach Lisle Blackbourn was forced to make trades to replenish his roster. In 1954, he traded newly conscripted quarterback Babe Parilli to Cleveland for Bob Garrett, who then went into the military in 1955. In 1955, he traded the Packers’ top draft pick from the previous year, newly conscripted Art Hunter, for Joe Skibinski and Bill Lucky. The biggest trade that was at least partly a result of military losses was the Tobin Rote deal in 1957. With starting linemen Forrest Gregg, Bob Skoronski and Hank Bullough all in the military, Blackbourn traded Rote and safety Val Joe Walker to the Lions for tackles Norm Masters and Ollie Spencer, guard Jim Salsbury and halfback Don McIlhenny.

For the decade, no team lost more players to the military as Green Bay. For the purposes of this study, players drafted by the military before beginning their NFL careers are listed as a loss to the team that drafted them. So even though Bill Roffler never played in Green Bay, he is listed as a Packer loss because they drafted him.

The tables below list the military service of 1950s’ Packers as well as breakdown for the league. (I updated the last two tables on 10/27/15.)

Existing Players:

Bob Forte

LB

1951

Len Szafaryn

T

1951-52

Clay Tonnemaker

LB

1951-52

Larry Coutre

HB

1951-52

Clarence Self

DB

1953

Bill Reichardt

FB

1953-54

Tom Johnson

DT

1953-54

Babe Parilli

QB

1954-55

Gene Knutson

DE

1955

Art Hunter

C

1955

Max McGee

E

1955-56

Bob Garrett

QB

1955-56

Al Barry

G

1955-56

Gene White

DB

1955-56

Veryl Switzer

HB

1956-57

Hank Bullough

G

1956-57

Doyle Nix

DB

1956-57

Forrest Gregg

T

1957

Bob Skoronski

T

1957-58

Jack Losch

HB

1957-58

Ron Kramer

E

1958

Packer Draft Picks:

Hal Faverty*

LB

1950-51

Bill Roffler*

DB

1952-53

Emery Barnes*

DE

1954-55

Jim Temp*

DE

1955-56

Norm Amundsen*

G

1955-56

Team

Players

Years

Packers

26

46

Redskins

26

45

49ers

25

45

Browns

21

38

Giants

20

36

Eagles

17

32

Lions

20

31

Steelers

18

30

Colts/Texans/Yanks

18

30

Rams

17

30

Bears

19

27

Cardinals

16

25

Year

U.S. Draftees

NFL Players in Military

1950

219,771

6

1951

551,806

44

1952

438,479

74

1953

473,806

78

1954

253,230

66

1955

152,777

70

1956

137,940

43

1957

138,504

26

1958

142,246

7

1959

96,143

1

And some 1950s’ Packers chose to fulfill their military obligation by signing up for a six-year tour in the Reserves as the following custom cards reflect: